Teach me to behave like the orange which, though crushed
and bitten, fails not to impart its sweetness.
Battered by unkindness, bitten by carping criticism, or
hewed with hard words and cruel behavior, teach me yet to
pour the unceasing sweetness of my love.
Teach me to be like the soap-flakes which, when beaten and
rubbed, give out the cleansing foam.
Tried and hard-beaten by ingratitude, teach me, nevertheless,
to offer the snow-white mental driving foam of my
wisdom’s help.
From Whispers from Eternity, 1949 edition.
